Dive Brief:

• Eighty-five percent of professionals surveyed said they would at least consider leaving their company over an unfair performance review, according to research from Reflektive, a people management platform. Top reasons cited for leaving included inaccurate performance reviews, being passed over for a promotion based on a review that didn't reflect performance and bias.
• Despite reviews being part of what pushes employees to leave an employer, 92% of respondents said they favored being reviewed more than once a year, with 49% preferring weekly formal feedback conversations and 72% preferring monthly. Respondents said they like reviews for the feedback, manager face time and the clarity on the path to promotion they provided. 
• Other top reasons respondents gave for leaving included "not feeling valued," "not being paid enough" and inadequate opportunities for advancement. Survey results showed that pay raises and perks were key attraction and retention factors. More than half of those surveyed (58%) said money is the main driver in choosing where to work, followed closely by benefits and vacation packages. Respondents’ also said growth potential and meaningful work were important.  

Dive Insight:​

Workers want — and deserve — accurate, unbiased assessments of their performance. Biases based on gender, race, culture or any other subjective qualifier should not be factored into evaluating how the job is performed and whether it meets organizational standards and expectations. 

Employees want validation for the work they do and the contributions they make to their organizations. Rachel Ernst, vice president of employee success at Reflektive noted in a statement: "Without frequent and well-rounded feedback, bias creeps in, and people become disengaged and consider leaving their companies," Ernst said. "Creating a culture of feedback that implements a modernized performance review structure based on data helps to eliminate these costly problems."

In myriad studies, employees show they prefer more "real-time" job reviews over the traditional, once-a-year appraisal that focuses on past behaviors rather than future improvement. More employers are focused on giving the employee experience the same level of attention and consideration as the customer experience. Money may still be a top motivator when it comes to talent attraction and retention, but effective and transparent communication, development opportunities, in-demand benefits and meaningful work are holding their own as must-haves for workers.